ADDING CHEAP SOLAR POWER TO YOUR HOME
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If you have a strong floor, you can pour a thin 2" - 4"
concrete slab over it, or lay down brick or heavy
tile.
Steel drums or racks of water-filled containers could act
as partitions or furniture.
An interior wall that receives sunlight could be lined with
stone or brick.
Advantages
The addition of thermal mass does not increase the amount
of solar energy available to a space, but it lengthens the
time you can use the heat.
Thermal mass moderates temperature swings between day and
night keeping the space more comfortable.
Excess heat that might otherwise be thrown away is saved
and used later.
Thermal mass has no moving or complex processes. It simply
sits there and does its job without your time or
effort.
Thermal mass materials are common and inexpensive. Concrete
runs $40.00 to $60.00 per cubic yard (27 cubic feet). Water
is almost free. Containers, such as steel drums or plastic
jugs, can be scrounged or bought secondhand. Figure $1 to
$2 per square foot of window area.
Disadvantages
Thermal mass requires bulky materials and often takes up a
lot of space. It's often difficult to add more in a
graceful way that's acceptable to your existing
decor.
The structure of your house may need strengthening before
it can support the considerable weight of thermal mass. To
be sure, check out the foundation and floor before you load
in the mass.
BATCH HEATERS
Another way to take advantage of the sun's considerable
heat energy is through a batch heater (sometimes called a
breadbox). A batch heater, nothing more than a greenhouse
for heating water, is a water tank painted black, mounted
in a well-insulated box, and covered by a sheet of glazing.
The batch heater preheats the cold water from your well or
municipal water supply, reducing the amount of energy your
water heater uses. The best location for a batch heater is
an unshaded area in the yard on the south side of your home
or as close as possible to your existing tank.
The sun's energy passes through the glazing and is absorbed
by the black surface of the tank. This heat is immediately
transferred to the colder water in the tank, supplied from
your well or municipal water service. On a warm sunny
summer day, the water in the tank may reach 140°F. This
preheated water then flows to a well insulated outlet pipe
to your home's water heater. As the warm water is delivered
to your home, it is replaced in the tank by cold water from
the inlet pipe and the cycle continues.
To get the most hot water from this solar system, use only
a single layer of glass. Including a reflector in the
design will increase the amount of solar energy the tank
receives. The water lines going to and from the solar tank
should be well insulated and kept as short as possible.
